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    • A seriously sinister good time
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    A seriously sinister good time

    Vaseline Posted on

    This review contains full spoilers for Agatha All Along episodes 1 and 2, “Seekest Thou the Road” and “Circle Sewn with Fate Unlock Thy Hidden Gate”

    They always say the next is darker. That’s certainly true when it comes to Marvel’s WandaVision sequel, the ominous and delightfully evil Agatha All Along. After being defeated by Wanda Maximoff in the previous series, Kathryn Hahn reprises her role as the villainous but delightfully entertaining Agatha Harkness—and this time around, she’s even more sinister. You’d think that losing her magic and being trapped by the Scarlet Witch’s spell for three years would be humiliating for Agatha, but she wastes no time in putting a new plan into action to restore her lost power. The two-part premiere of Agatha All Along does a great job of continuing the story of WandaVision while also expanding the witch side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    WandaVision surprised us with the way it parodied different eras of television to tell Wanda’s story of starting a family, and Agatha All Along continues that trend by bringing us up to speed with Agatha. She’s trapped in a variation of the television world Wanda has created for herself, forcing her to play out the life of a fictional character with no memory of who she really is. Spoofing Mare of Easttown is an inspired choice, as it allows us to follow “Agnes of Westview” as she investigates a murder, which also forces her to examine the cracks in her bizarre new reality. Kudos to Hahn for truly capturing Kate Winslet’s junk-food-eating, line-cutting, hard-nosed investigator whose hair has never known the touch of a comb. The show’s murder mystery elements are also used to good effect to set up a chilling moment involving the former owners of the ancient book of black magic known as the Darkhold.

    Aiding Agatha in her escape is the mysterious goth teenager known only as “Teen,” played with genuine enthusiasm and an adorable dose of naivety by Joe Locke. He’s the fool’s man to her straight wife, a crazy Agatha fanboy eager to learn more about witchcraft, despite her treating him with utter contempt. He sees her as a mentor, but she sees him as, in her words, a pet. They’re an agreeably odd pair brought together by a shared goal to travel the fabled Witches’ Road to get what they’re “missing”—which they both claim is the power they want. Who wants to bet what they get? want to is not what they need, and that the mystical path will ultimately bring them something completely different, like the magic of friendship?

    As for Teen’s identity, the prevailing fan theory is that he is none other than Billy Kaplan, the adult son of Scarlet Witch, who in the comics is a teenage superhero wizard known as Wiccan. It seems that WandaVision and Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer understood that his identity would be of intense interest to fans, so rather than beat around the bush, the show explicitly acknowledges it and makes it a mystery for Agatha to solve. It’s a very self-aware approach, but perhaps it’ll prove to be a wise one, given how us fans tend to obsess over this sort of thing, which can distract from the actual story being told. (Who remembers endlessly theorizing about WandaVision’s missing witness, aerospace engineer, apparent Mephisto references, and fake Pietro, only for it to ultimately not matter?) When you do it this way, it doesn’t matter whether you’re tuned into Marvel Comics lore and already know the answer or not, because Agatha doesn’t. It’s fun to watch her try to figure it out, and we all get to relax a little instead of sitting on YouTube all day watching theory clips.

    It’s almost funny to watch Agatha try to shoo Teen away like an annoying pest, when she literally has no friends or allies to speak of. Her list of enemies, on the other hand, looks scary and is growing fast. We don’t know much about the Salem Seven yet, but their super creepy entrance does the trick by giving Agatha some seriously dangerous opponents to fear. Then there’s fellow witch Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), who invades Agatha’s TV world and helps her escape—only to attack her while she’s vulnerable. Rio and Agatha’s showdown in the kitchen practically crackles with electricity. They clearly have a juicy past, and it’s clear that reuniting brings out a lot of intense emotions. It seems a little too easy for Agatha to stop Rio from attacking her, especially after Rio has put so much time and effort into tracking her down and helping her break Wanda’s curse. Let’s hope we learn more about their troubled relationship and why Rio was so willing to change his mind.

    In order to gain access to the Witches’ Road, Agatha must gather enough witches to create a new coven, which proves tricky given her reputation as, you know, a notorious witch-slayer. It’s devilishly fun to watch Agatha recruit Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), Mrs. Davis/Hart (Debra Jo Rupp), and Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone). She’s a powerless witch at the end of her rope, but her pretentious attitude and biting remarks can’t stop her, even to save her own life. She does succeed, but in the most Agatha-esque way possible: through insults, lies, and emotional manipulation—all while wearing a venomous smile. It’s this recruitment sequence that proves why Agatha deserves her own show: She’s the baddest piece of shit the MCU has ever seen.

    That said, episode 2 feels a little rushed as it tries to find enough time for Agatha and Teen to visit all the witches. With so little time to convince them to join, it’s hard to believe that they would all choose to show up the way they did. Still, it’s interesting how each witch has a specialty that focuses on a different aspect of witchcraft. I’m familiar with the idea of ​​a witch being good at making potions and being able to read the future from a crystal ball, but what is the skill of a protection witch? It makes me curious.

    The two-part premiere of Agatha All Along continues the WandaVision story perfectly

    The premiere ends with Agatha and her reluctant coven singing “Down the Witches’ Road” to open a magical portal, making great use of the ensemble’s musical talents. You don’t cast Broadway legend Patti LuPone as a witch if she’s not going to use those bagpipes to sing some spells! Their beautiful voices and haunting melody give the song immense power and bring the premiere to a fantastic climax. The tone of the song is a far cry from WandaVision’s breakout hit “Agatha All Along,” but it’s no less catchy.

    Other thoughts

    -During the first scene, the song Agatha is humming in the car and the music that plays afterward is the tune of “Down the Witches’ Road.” I like how Agatha is already on the path to the Witches’ Road before she knows it.

    -The scene where Agatha breaks free from the spell by re-approaching all of her WandaVision disguises, culminating in the black-and-white Agnes, was truly amazing.

    -It was cool to see the citizens of Westview again, and how they treat Wanda’s name the way the Wizarding World characters treat Voldemort’s. When Agatha walks by the plot of land where Wanda’s house used to be, we see that it’s been vandalized with anti-Scarlet Witch graffiti. That’s what happens when you traumatize an entire town.

    -Agatha’s signature necklace turned out to be a locket with a lock of hair in it. When Teen begs Agatha to take him to the Witches’ Road, it’s only after looking at the locket and being lost in thought that she changes her mind and agrees. So there must be something in there that has great personal meaning to her.

    -Rio Vidal isn’t a character from the comics, so I’m interested in learning more about her and seeing if any connection to the comics is eventually revealed.

    -When Agatha breaks down Teen’s “WELCOME COVEN” sign, all the letters fall out except for the “W.” Could the “W” stand for Wicca?

    -Agatha’s new costume and hairstyle at the end of episode 2 are a direct homage to Agatha’s classic appearance in the comic books.

    -Mrs. Davis was so, so cute during the musical performance. “Do I need to know this song?” And the way she jumps around excitedly and starts singing along as soon as she knows the words? Protect her at all costs!

    -Remember when the MCU tried to treat magic like it was super science and not real magic? I’m glad that’s a thing of the past because it was great to see the supernatural angle of the MCU being built up this way.

    -Marvel Witch Songs: 2. Star Wars Witch Songs: 0.

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